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Tui, also known as the Moon Spirit, is one of two spirits that reside in the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole within the Northern Water Tribe's capital city, taking the form of a white koi fish with a large black spot on its head. Tui and its counterpart, La, were among the first spirits to come to the mortal world, and have kept balance in an "eternal dance" ever since. As the Moon Spirit, Tui was the first waterbender and the root of all waterbending; in the event of Tui's absence, waterbenders lose their bending ability.[2]

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History

Thousands of years before the Hundred Year War, Tui and La chose to manifest themselves in the mortal world to benefit mankind, and took up residence in an alcove within the Northern Water Tribe's capital city. They lived within this spiritual center of the North Pole and took the form of two koi fish.[3] Thereafter, the Spirit Oasis became the city's most treasured landmark.

When PrincessYue was born she was gravely ill and on the brink of death. Her father, ChiefArnook, along with her mother brought her to the Spirit Oasis and prayed for the spirits to save her life. Tui answered their prayers and saved the princess by passing on some of its own life force. Although Tui had saved Yue, Chief Arnook had a dream that his daughter would one day have to share Tui's place as the Moon Spirit.[2]

Many years later, AdmiralZhao on behalf of the Fire Nation, launched a massive attack on the Northern Water Tribe.[1] Determined to make a legend of himself, Zhao lead his personal guard into the royal palace to kill the Moon Spirit, whose mortal existence he had learned from Wan Shi Tong's Library. Tui was captured by Zhao, causing the spiritual equivalent of a lunar eclipse and removing the power of all waterbenders. GeneralIroh intervened and threatened Zhao that any harm inflicted on the spirit would be unleashed on him tenfold. Zhao appeared to heed Iroh's warning, releasing Tui back into the water of the Oasis, but the spirit was then abruptly murdered by Zhao with a blast of firebending, much to the horror of Katara, Aang, and Iroh. Tui's death lead to a lapse in spiritual balance and waterbending ceased to exist.

Taking the slain koi fish into his hands, Iroh realized that Yue held some of Tui's life energy inside her. Yue then understood she had the choice and responsibility to return this energy to Tui, thus sacrificing herself in order to resurrect it. After Tui had returned to life and the moon was restored, Yue's physical form vanished from Sokka's arms, and she transcended as a moon spirit, shared with Tui.[2]

Appearances

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Book One: Water (水)

Trivia

"Tui" (推) means "push" in Mandarin Chinese, compared to "La" (拉), which means "pull". According to Princess Yue, the ancient waterbenders saw the tides push and pull, giving a hint to the two spirits' existence in the tribe.

It is ironic that Zhao killed the white, masculine counterpart of the Yin and Yang symbol as in Taoism, it represents the sun and fire, while Yin, the dark and feminine part, represents the moon and water.

Including Aang's fatal injury sustained in "The Crossroads of Destiny", from which he was resurrected shortly thereafter, Tui was the first of eight characters to have been observed dying or being murdered in the original series, though it was resurrected soon afterward by Yue's sacrifice. In chronological order, the others were Yue, Chin, Jet, Aang, Roku, Fang, and Combustion Man.

The Moon is considered the original waterbender. Members of the Water Tribe used to watch how the Moon pushed and pulled the tides and learned how to do it themselves,[1] which makes waterbending the only bending art that was not learned from an animal species.

A petroglyph depicting Tui and La encircling each other was present on the stone wall behind the waterfall in Tarrlok's office.[4]